


Burn

by LeaIsConfused



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Dream SMP War, Dream Smp, Suicide, The Author Regrets Nothing, l'manburg, suffer, suicide TW
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 09:22:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28686297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeaIsConfused/pseuds/LeaIsConfused
Summary: Tubbo questions his morals, choices, and path after he hears that Tommy jumped into a lava lake in the Nether.
Relationships: Jschlatt & Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit, No Romantic Relationship(s)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 32





	Burn

It was rare that heat was so intense you could feel it hitting you in waves, that you could hear it buzzing in your ears, and it was rare that your shirt stuck to you only moments after being in an environment, that your hair became soaked with sweat. It was also incredibly rare for all four of these things to coincide, to come together in a sweltering combination of heat and anger and exhaustion; it was once in a million, really.

Once in a million. And yet, here Tommy was, teetering on the edge of a drop-off and staring down at the lava below. Even from all the way up here, thousands of feet above the surface, he could feel the throngs of heat as they pounded against his face. He could just barely make out the bubbling surface of the lake, thick and boiling and deadly. His blue eyes darted back and forth nervously as he fought to calm his heart rate, forcing himself to swallow and take a breath, to think.

_It would hurt. It wouldn't be peaceful. I would hit the surface, and my bones would break, and then I would sink and cook myself alive. I'd choke on lava, and then I would burn from the inside out. I wouldn't be able to breathe, I wouldn't be able to even move, I don't even think I'd be able to form a thought. It would be horribly, terribly painful._

And yet, Tommy found himself shuffling closer to the edge, ignoring the steady warning that played through his head. A piece of netherrack crumbled from underneath his shoe, making his breath catch in his throat. Tears began to well up in his eyes, and the teenager chewed the inside of his cheek in distress.

_It would be suffocating._

Tommy took a trembling foot and held it out over the edge, feeling the heat pound him even harder.

_It would be excruciating._

A tear rolled down his cheek for a millisecond before evaporating, lost to the Nether.

_It would burn._

Tommy began to step onto the air, letting himself fall into nothing. He felt his body weight shift, felt his pulse spike. He fought the urge to scream.

And then, he was shoved back to land.

Tommy hit the ground hard, collapsing against the netherrack with a harsh gasp as he cut his knees on the rock. All at once, the emotions and events caught up with him, and the boy began to hyperventilate, air moving in and out of him harshly as he struggled to calm himself; he hadn't even realized that he'd been holding his breath. He lifted dirty hands and hurriedly wiped his eyes, determined to remove any lingering evidence of tears. Of course, his hitching breath and snot-filled nose were giving him away, but he ignored that for now.

Above him was Dream, an arm in his hoodie pocket and bow slung over his shoulders as he watched the younger boy struggle to recover from his brush with death. Though he'd clearly just saved Tommy, there was no sympathy to be found in his stance or expression... despite the fact that most of his face was tucked away behind the plastic of a white mask, his mouth was still visible, and Dream wasn't even bothering to hide his crooked grin.

Clearly, Dream was overjoyed with the situation he'd found himself in; any other person would be distressed, but Dream? He smiled as if he'd been handed a present, even held back a laugh. Tommy swallowed hard, fighting off the ever-present churn in his stomach... the more he thought about it, the more his nerves began to twist into disgust. What kind of a person stumbled across an attempted suicide and smiled? What kind of a sick, twisted person saw a desperate boy and _enjoyed_ it?

Tommy glared up at Dream for a moment, eyes rubbed red with irritation and still leaking out tears. He hiccupped, a result of his brief panic attack, and Tommy couldn't help but realize how much of a child he must've looked like, with his watery eyes and running nose and skinned knees. He forced himself back into a standing position, struggling to stay upright on his trembling legs, and rubbed his nose dry with his sleeve. He never once broke eye contact with Dream, defiantly staring into the two black dots on the mask.

Dream approached him, reaching out a dangerous hand and clamping it around the back of Tommy's neck. "Come on," he sighed, a hint of a chuckle trickling into his tone as he steered him away from the edge. There was nothing gentle in the way he handled his companion—Dream's grip was rough and calloused, and the strength of his fingers was nothing short of bruising. Tommy almost winced. Almost.

They began to walk down the narrow pathway, Dream never releasing his clasp on Tommy's neck as the pair made their way back to camp. He didn't seem too worried about getting back to Logsteadshire in a timely manner; despite the iron grip he held on Tommy's neck, his hand still rested in his hoodie pocket, and his pace was slow as he took in the sights around him. Tommy glanced over to watch the other boy's tennis shoes, his mind racing the more he contemplated the situation he'd found himself in. On one hand, Dream wasn't a friend, and wasn't someone who Tommy wanted pity from. He was merely the overseer of his pathetic existence, the warden keeping him locked away in exile and disgrace. On the other hand, however, Dream should've been feeling some semblance of emotional distress, yet he showed nothing but pleasure.

Tommy felt a shiver travel down his spine as he began to truly process what had just happened. He'd been teetering on the edge of a drop-off, a half second away from taking a leap into a lava lake and ending his own life, and yet Dream had been laughing. He didn't feel much of anything, that was incredibly clear, and it scared him. How far would Dream be willing to go to keep L'Manburg in the shadow of his clutches, to keep pulling Tubbo's strings and playing him to a tune that only he conducted?

How far would Dream go to keep him isolated?

As they traversed the narrow bridge, Tommy briefly contemplated shoving Dream off the edge, sending him tumbling into the fiery abyss below. His blue eyes practically glossed over as he imagined it—imagined watching Dream's dark silhouette as it plummeted, nothing more than a speck of shadow in the sea of orange and gold. He shifted his gaze to watch Dream, the image in his head becoming clearer and clearer.

The teenager dug his nails into his palms, forcing the fantasy from his mind and turning his eyes back to the ground in front of him. Even if he gathered the courage to push, Dream would only come back, angry and demanding justice. He would hold Tommy to the end of an axe, demand he drop his things on the ground, and then he'd lash into Tommy over and over again, just to teach him a lesson. He'd burn his tent, restrict anyone from visiting him in exile. Dream would win.

He always won.

When they were a few hundred yards down the precarious netherrack bridge, Dream lessened his grip on his neck, returning his hand to his side at long last. Behind them, Tommy could hear the rapidly approaching footsteps of Wilbur and Sapnap, the pair laughing as they ran to catch up from the portal. Tommy almost laughed too, hearing them chatter on about the Christmas tree back home. They sounded like little kids.

Dream placed a hand on Tommy's chest, forcing him to stop and wait for the others to catch up. Tommy obeyed without complaint, planting his feet firmly onto the ground without lifting his hanging head; after all, what else was he to do? Dream wouldn't hesitate to kill him if he so much as tried to run, Sapnap would follow in a heartbeat, and Wilbur... could Wilbur even do anything to stop them? Would he even try, was he even capable?

Tommy let his eyes drift to the lava below once more, his throat beginning to tighten. He could barely hear anything anymore, only the static sound of heat. His vision became unfocused, and his mind dipped into a haze once more as he watched the churning lake. Gold, yellow, orange, red. The voice of reason began to creep back into his head, reminding him of the one certainty.

_It would burn._

A swift kick to the back of the knee pulled Tommy from his thoughts and he stumbled forward, looking up once more to Dream's plastic face with a silent question.

Dream leaned over only slightly, just enough to be eye-level with the younger boy. He brought a hand to the bottom of his mask, sliding it up and over his face to rest it on top of his head. Emerald-green eyes replaced the black paint, though they were just as emotionless.

"It's not your time to die yet, Tommy."

Dream was smiling. It wasn't kind.

To his left, Tommy could see Wilbur and Sapnap begin to slow in their approach, assessing the situation from afar. He noted concern on Wilbur's face as he tried to figure out the exchange happening before him, move past the mental block he was plagued with to get to the root of the problem. With a startling jolt, Tommy realized he could see fear in Wilbur's cold brown eyes.

Tommy swallowed firmly before opening his mouth for the first time, returning his gaze to Dream and finally preparing to speak after all his time spent in silence. He watched Dream lean forward only slightly, clearly eager to hear Tommy's dejected response. The blond only cracked a faint smile, his eyes welling up once more as the gravity of his decision hit him like a brick.

Despite his best efforts, a single tear slipped down Tommy's cheek.

"It's never my time to die."

Tommy stepped backward blindly, extending his arms to the side as he began to plummet. Dream scowled in annoyance and reached out to grab at Tommy's shirt and yank him back to land, but his fist closed on open air. Sapnap hurled an ender pearl toward Tommy in a failed attempt to catch up to him, and Wilbur sprinted toward Dream with a desperate cry. Tommy closed his eyes, feeling the heat on his back grow more and more prevalent as he neared his target. Once he splashed into the lake, Tommy screamed, pain lighting up his body as his voice echoed up to the trio still stood on the safety of the netherrack bridge. He quickly began to sink into the depths, becoming consumed by the unforgiving torrent of waves in a matter of seconds.

Tommy had been right about one thing.

It did burn.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, and thank you so much for taking interest in Burn! This is my first Dream SMP fanfiction, and my first fic in years, so I appreciate your reads! Next chapter coming soon!


End file.
